Library Guides: Religious Studies Library Guide: Comparative & general

Website lists for

Research Websites on general religious studies

The following websites suitable for academic research cover religious studies broadly, as each site deals with multiple religions. Mouse over each link for a description of that website.

We have also prepared pages listing recommended websites that focus on certain specific religions. To pull up these pages, mouse over the "Recommended Websites" tab and click on the page title, or click on the links to the left.

Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA)
ARDA consists of compilations of quantitative and geographic data on religions worldwide, including Christian denominations and congregations in the United States. Reports and maps are available for each country, as well as for US states and localities; links, lists of sources, and updates are included.
Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library
BBC World Service Guide to Religions of the World
Concise, objective descriptions of beliefs and practices of followers of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism.
Digital South Asia Library
Reference and research materials, including texts, images, maps, & statistical data, with bibliographies, indexes, and links to further resources. A major international collaborative project of numerous research institutions in the UK, US, and South Asia.
Exploring Ancient World Cultures
Introductory overview of cultures of Greece, Rome, Egypt, the ancient Near East, India, and China, as well as mediaeval Europe and the Islamic world. Includes selected primary texts and links to sites. Editor, Anthony F. Beavers, University of Evansville.
International Religious Freedom Report
Annual report of the US State Department Office of International Religious Freedom, arranged by country, with concise summaries on the protection of religious freedom or barriers to such freedom.
Internet East Asian History Sourcebook: Religious Traditions
Contains well-organized links to selected and complete primary texts, secondary materials, and images on East Asian religions, including Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Shinto, and Chinese religion generally, as well as Nestorian Christianity. Edited by Dr. Paul Halsall.
Internet Sacred Text Archive
A collection of electronic texts representing a wide range of religions, mythologies, and spiritual beliefs, this site is continually updated and expanded.
Middle East Studies Internet Resources
This Columbia University site collects important electronic bibliographic and research resources relating to Middle Eastern and North African studies. It includes an extensive section on religion in the Middle East.
Persee: portail de revues scientifiques en sciences humaines et sociales
Provides full-text access to a broad range of scholarly journals published in France in the humanities and social sciences. Made available by the Ministere de l'education nationale, de l'enseignement superieur et de la recherche.
Religious Movements Page
The Religious Movements page, a University of Virginia site, provides profiles of over 200 religious movements, including basic information on history and beliefs, links, and bibliographies.

Gateway Websites

These websites contain large collections of links to resources grouped by topic.

East & Southeast Asia: an Annotated Directory of Internet Resources
For both Asia in general and for the individual political units, resources are grouped by various political, social, cultural and economic categories and sub-categories. ARCHIVED VERSION OF SITE
Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies
Portal to Asian Internet Resources (PAIR)
The catalog includes current information and data such as bibliographies and databases, data sets, newspapers and journals, government reports, and organization sites. Resources are in English and/or one or more of 27 Asian languages.